THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said Wednesday she is closing a preliminary probe into allegations of killings and torture of Iraqi prisoners by British troops from 2003-2008 and will not open a full-scale investigation because UK authorities have investigated the allegations.
The global court only takes on cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious international offenses if a member state is unwilling or unable to investigate them or has carried out investigations that were not genuine with a view to shielding suspects from justice.
In a statement, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office confirmed that there is “a reasonable basis to believe that members of the British armed forces committed the war crimes of wilful killing, torture, inhuman/cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape and/or other forms of sexual violence” against Iraqi detainees.
But Bensouda added that two British probes into the allegations meant her office “could not conclude that the UK authorities had remained inactive.”
ICC prosecutors then analyzed whether the UK investigations were genuine. Bensouda said her office “could not substantiate allegations that the UK investigative and prosecutorial bodies had engaged in shielding, based on a careful scrutiny of the information before it.”
The global court had been looking into the Iraqi allegations since 2014. Bensouda noted that UK probes have examined thousands of allegations but have not yet led to any prosecutions.
A UN committee last year called for an independent public inquiry to investigate allegations of unlawful killings and torture by British troops in Iraq. The UN’s Committee Against Torture also said that Britain should refrain from passing laws that would grant amnesty or pardons related to torture.
It said there had been no war crimes prosecutions resulting from the investigations by Britain’s Iraq Historic Allegations Team despite some 3,400 allegations of crimes by British forces from the 2003 invasion of Iraq until 2009.
ICC closes probe into abuse of Iraqis by British troops
https://arab.news/wjt79
ICC closes probe into abuse of Iraqis by British troops
- ICC prosecutor will not open a full-scale investigation into allegations of killings and torture of Iraqi prisoners
Morocco’s energy ministry puts gas pipeline project on hold
- The country’s natural gas demand is expected to rise to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027 from around 1 bcm currently, according to ministry estimates
RABAT: Morocco’s energy ministry said on Monday it has paused a tender launched last month for a gas pipeline project, without giving details on the reasons for the suspension.
The tender sought bids to build a pipeline linking a future gas terminal at the Nador West Med port on the Mediterranean to an existing pipeline that allows Morocco to import LNG through Spanish terminals and supply two power plants.
It also covered a section that would connect the existing pipeline to industrial zones on the Atlantic in Mohammedia and Kenitra.
“Due to new parameters and assumptions related to this project... the ministry of energy transition and sustainable development is postponing the receipt of applications and the opening of bids received as of today,” the ministry said in a statement.
Morocco is looking to expand its use of natural gas to diversify away from coal as it also accelerates its renewable energy plan, which aims for renewables to account for 52 percent of installed capacity by 2030, up from 45 percent now.
The country’s natural gas demand is expected to rise to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027 from around 1 bcm currently, according to ministry estimates.
